Bedlam and Cheer
by J.C Jackals
Summary: Rem's life goal to join the Revolutionaries and change the World Government can have her executed... But joining Luffy's motley crew might help. OCs Romance Eventual. ***OLD WRITING, READ AT OWN RISK.
1. Welcome to the island!

**AUTHORS-NOTE[S]: ****It's hard pin-pointing how some of the CanonCharacters would talk, and I apologize now for what I potentially screw up, and if you'd like to be a hard critic about character, go right ahead!**

**P.P : I've got this handful of OriginalArc ideas, and a villain/not-so-bad-guy-Psycho OC. So this won't **_**all**_** be a mildly rewritten version of One Piece, but I WILL follow what happens and stick to what will happen...(unless the temptation to keep certain characters alive is too much *coughcough*) Also, Rem has Revolutionaries and OCs both pirate and revolutionary.**

* * *

**Eleven Years Before Present Day**

On a sea of charcoal waters which thrashed viciously, the Moby Dick bobbed to and fro at dangerous tilts. Like greedy claws the ocean climbed the ships sides and crashed over the railings, completely flooding the deck swarmed with sons both new and veteran. Above was a sky black as night with clouds that swirled slowly, menacingly, as though the worst was surely yet to come.

Crew members crowding the slippery deck hurriedly secured what needed securing, and checked what needed confirmation. One of those on deck was a tall man with a mop of red hair on the crown of his skull.

"_Come what may, come what may..."_

Marco the Phoenix stopped his work at the ships railings, not quite believing what he heard. With a quick glance at other crew mates working the railings alongside him, he continued his task once none had shown any sign of having heard a child's weak voice. Thunderclaps and the seas loud racket nearly had him missing the next words.

"_We'll survive this! We will, we will..."_

Once again Marco stopped, ran a hand through his hair, and glanced around. Not one man showed any sign of having heard what he did. The First Commander then leaned against the railing, patiently waiting for another verse of this child's whispered song, if indeed there was a kid and not some trick of the current crisis.

"_Through scourging magma, through endless ice, and the devil's raging ocean..."_

Marco frowned, in parts curious, mild frustration, and worry- why on earth would a child be caught out in this hellish storm, and so far out to sea at that? He leaned himself as far over the railing as he dared in the whistling, battering wind to try and see if there was anything on the savage waves.

As a lucky flash of blinding lightning lit the turbulent waters for miles and miles, Marco squinted and spotted a dinghy twelve yards out to the left. In that little boat was a quaking lump of child sized person huddling under a tarp.

First Commander Marco acted immediately, only slightly relieved in the back of his mind that he hadn't been losing any precious marbles, and put together a small team of non-Devil Fruit users to go save the unfortunate kid. On that team was himself, regrettably, as most did not want to go into the sea, as well as Thatch and two braver deckhand's.

"What if they're dead already?" grumbled one of the roustabout's despite their willingness to help.

Thatch motioned for the younger man to be quiet and Marco ordered the small group to listen carefully as they climbed into the rescue boat.

Soon enough, _"That sun...will greet us today, tomorrow...and again and again from now and till our peaceful end..."_

Hearing that the group hurried to the rescue.

The child, neither of their rescuers could tell the gender from their face, was in a stupor as Marco carried them to the infirmary. Glassy feverish eyes stared at nothing and barely a breath was taken as each verse tumbled from cracked lips.

xXx

**Present Day**

xXx

"LAND HO~!" cried Luffy from his spot on Going Meri's bow.

It was mid morning and on the deck of the ship and most of the crew was out and doing their usual thing.

"Whoa, look at those mountains!" said Usopp, pointing excitedly. He stood beside the bow with one hand shielding his eyes in the glare of early afternoon sunlight.

Indeed the island they sailed towards had a multitude of mountains ringing the crescent islands shape. According to Nami's maps it was called Opacare. Its geography was an odd one if the information in the map book was to be trusted. Ringed with cloud piercing mountains, the interior of the island was in a perpetual nightfall from about seven in the evening to around eight in the morning, leaving the forest and its peculiar flora and fauna to absorb sunlight for the coming gloom.

Nami walked out onto the deck, greeted Vivi who smiled politely back, and took a deep breath of open sea air. "This island is called Opacare. It's supposed to have a festival tomorrow night."

"Cool!" said Luffy. He was practically bouncing on hit butt. "Festival food here I come!"

Zoro was practicing with his blades, Sanji was swooning over the pretty ladies of the ship and serving them whatever they desired, Usopp went back to experimenting with future weapons of his, and Luffy was deciding whether pestering Sanji for a second breakfast was worth a kick to the head. Half an hour later Zoro was tying the ship to the port of Caligo Town as the crew disembarked.

Busy would be describing the place mildly. The port was large and held thirty spaces for ships of good size. People, merchants, miscellaneous sailors and others all bustled about buying things, haggling and chatting at the nearby crowded beach front marketplace. Kids were running through the streets laughing while playing some kind of game. What was most apparent, besides the number of natives with dark complexions and pale hair and eye colorings, was that many of the natives appeared to be formidable fighters. Each man and more than a few tough looking women were subtly tense, as though ready to drop everything and fight like the end of their little island was coming.

"C'mon! Let's go get food!" Suggested Luffy who actually was bouncing on his feet.

"There could be some interesting stuff here," mused Usopp as he mentally counted whatever money he had and stared at the marketplace eagerly.

"It's a good opportunity to see some local cuisine, buy ingredients, and to meet some pretty ladies!" Sanji said, grinning stupidly in excitement mainly for the latterly mentioned females.

Vivi looked uneasy, wanting to get moving now and towards her home. But she knew waiting for the log pose was crucial, and anyway, why dampen the Straw Hat's good mood?

As the crew talked a bit amongst themselves only Zoro noticed the small figure sitting on a tree stump one dock over, watching the crew openly as they kicked at the orange-brown sand beneath them. Zoro stared the kid in the eyes, daring them to come over there and watch them up close. Nami, Sanji and Luffy moved to exit the dock while the other crew members continued taking in the organized chaos, but the kid, or boy from the looks, hopped to his feet and jogged over.

Everyone more or less watched curiously as a boy in shapeless overall shorts, a sweater and a bulky, raggedly patched newsboy cap stopped in front of them.

"Welcome to town!" was all he said. The voice was sweet and had a rather husky edge.

Luffy grinned. "Hi! Where's the best restaurant?"

Usopp stepped up and grinned too. "Is there some shop here for people who like making things?"

The boy merely tilted his head and looked at each crew members eyes as though seeking something that would betray sinister intentions, in fact he stared until some began getting worried- then he nodded with a wide, cheeky smile of his own that crinkled his pumpkin eyes closed and hid his teeth. "Yep! Caligo isn't the hugest but we have a big variety of things for random travelers to buy. I guarantee you will find something you'll want."

Smiling, Nami stepped up to ask, "How long does the log pose take to set?"

"Long enough for your group to stay for the Luna Corona Festival tomorrow."

"AWESOME! Festival food, you're mine!" Luffy said, grinning like a maniac and pumping his fist in the air.

The short Caligo native tilted his head. "You guys pirates?"

"Yeah! And I'm the captain!"

The boy's face dead panned and he tilted his head curiously. "Really? Are you sure you're not, um, being indulged?"

Luffy bristled slightly, childishly huffing. "But I AM the captain! I designed the Jolly Roger, I gathered my crew, and-" Nami smacked him, quickly saying, "Yeah, he is the captain."

"And... uh, you guys aren't planning to pillage my town and do dirty things to people?"

"Ew, no," was Luffy's blunt answer. This was accompanied by that universal 'Yuck! Cooties!' expression little boys favor.

"Good! My name's Remy, but you have to call me Rem. Welcome to town, Mr. Captain," the native said playfully. "Here's a gift of thanks and peace, just in case."

Rem stepped up to Luffy, who watched with curious eyes, and took one of his upper arms in gentle hands. After several seconds of finger twisting, and consequently tickling Luffy, Rem stepped back and there on the goofy captains arm was a rich topaz tinted crystalline armlet that appeared braided. Luffy poked it, stared at Rem, then poked it again before his eyes turned into huge sparkling things that very nearly had the cap sporting boy turning tail and running like a frightened rabbit.

"This is AWESOME! What's your Devil Fruit? What else can you do? Can you turn into crystal? Will you join my crew?"

To Rem's credit he did not turn and run screaming. However his face did look like he'd been blind sided by a flying seacow. "Uh, come again?"

"Join my crew!"

Another wide close lipped smile cracked the boys face. "Sure!"

Luffy fist pumped. "Really?"

Rem's face fell flat and bored. "...No."

"But-!"

And that is when Rem took the chance to turn and run like someone was aiming a harpoon at his butt.

=3=

Luffy pouted and poked at the armlet despondently while he and the crew still wandered together (for the moment) through hectic Caligo streets.

"He just didn't want to be a pirate is all, Luffy," said Usopp, patting the captains back in an attempt at comforting.

Sanji grinned. "Yeah, maybe he sensed how crazy this crew was... OH! Not that Nami-swan and Vivi-chan are crazy. Only these shitty bastards!" Sanji quickly amended and pointed, as well as looked at, the male Mugiwara's like they carried disease.

Nami hummed in response but otherwise paid the cook no mind as she looked at the abundance of fine merchandise in the marketplace stalls. Vivi merely smiled at Sanji and glanced around, outwardly looking content but now trying to temporarily bury the uneasiness plaguing her. The other males grumbled and otherwise ignored the Love-Cook, besides Zoro of course: "Who are you calling a shitty bastard, you horny cook?" and"What's that, Marimo brain?" was what mostly consisted of their, ahem, harmless little tiff.

Now, unlike many a time where the situation was reversed, it was Luffy's turn to look at his crew like they were stupid, and he pointed rudely at them. "THAT'S why Rem didn't wanna join!"

Everyone came to a stop and stared. "Uh, why's that?" asked Usopp.

"Because you guys think she's a boy," said Luffy, despite the fact that no one had called Rem a boy in his or her presence.

Sanji rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "That would be because he is a guy, Luffy."

Luffy crossed his arms and eyed Sanji with his head tilted, plainly stating next, "Are you stupid now? 'Course she's a girl."

Deciding it was better to ignore this, Sanji started walking ahead and Zoro headed to the opposite direction of the cook and away from the crew.

Usopp looked skeptical. "You sure Rem is female?"

Nami crossed her arms and looked exasperated. "Sure, Rem was rather pretty for a boy, but if he were a girl, he's rather adrogenous, isn't he?"

Luffy opened his mouth and then closed it. "A mystery word. But Rem is a girl! I'm sure."

Vivi smiled at the captain, wondering over the current 'issue' being discussed. "Wouldn't Nami and I be able to tell if Rem were a girl?"

A shrug was her answer before Luffy picked his nose. "Obviously not."

Vivi looked at Nami helplessly and shrugged. "No point arguing, is there? Let's go do something productive Nami-san."

Suddenly a shrill yell tore the peaceful air and Luffy gawked. "That was Rem!"

Usopp's jaw dropped. "How the hell could you tell!"

But the rubber man was already tearing through the streets leaving his crew to watch in vexation.

"We should follow him, shouldn't we?" said Vivi, wondering what trouble the zany captain would get into.

Nami hung her head and ran a hand through silky red hair, then looked up to show her Royally-Pissed-Off-And-You-Better-Run-Now face. "I guess. C'mon Usopp, Vivi. We have an idiot to hunt down."

;3;

"You little asshole twerps! Leave me the hell alone!" yelled Rem. And indeed he was a she.

"Give them back then!" roared five out of six bratty new neighborhood teenagers.

"Not if you're gonna friggin' PAINT them you amoeba-brained shitheads!"

Luffy came sprinting up along the cargo crowded Norna Street as Rem went careening down his way with a closed wooden cage of tiny, furry feline's; she didn't even notice him as she hurtled past.

The rubber man skidded to a stop and watched as the group of larger boys chased down his soon-to-be crew member like a rabbit to be stuffed and roasted. Luffy huffed and took off again, this time passing his frustrated other nakama who'd been running around for five minutes trying to find him.

Within the next two minutes he nearly tripped over a box of scented merchandise as he suddenly skidded to a stop just inside the docking and smaller bazaar area. Thirty seconds later the whole crew came up from behind and ninety percent whacked him in the head for the trouble they just went through chasing him, and yes; Sanji and Zoro had been rounded up to try and stop any mayhem Luffy might have gotten himself into.

Currently Luffy was standing by a stall selling sweetly scented soaps. He watched as Rem backed down one of the wider docks with the cage clutched like it held gold and jewels.

"Hey, aren't we gonna help her?" said Usopp, worriedly watching as her feet continually neared the docks end where a sharp drop in the beach would ensure her fast descent into deep water.

Sanji eyed the boys with dark disdain having decided to accept that Rem was a girl for the time being. "We should go stop those brats before they do anything that will make me do something they'll regret."

Zoro and Luffy watched the scene play out with folded arms, and the captain spoke firmly. "Let's see what she does and if she's strong."

Nami frowned at Luffy along with Sanji. "And if she's not strong or falls into the ocean? She won't join the crew?"

Luffy turned a confused look towards his navigator. "Of course she'll still join. I fall into the sea all the time. I'd be a hippopotacrate wouldn't I?"

Vivi stifled a giggle, only partly worried for the girl and mostly amused by the captains simplicity- he was probably thinking Zoro or Sanji could go save her while he beat up the brats.

Usopp sighed. "You mean hypocrite Luffy."

"Oh! Yeah that too. Anyways, we'll save her if she falls. Duh."

Over with the cornered girl now.

Rem looked behind her at the sea and the sheer drop in the beach beneath the particular dock she stood on, and fought a shiver. _How is it that I get into a situation like this at least every couple of months? Does something up there like watching animal lovers beating up brats and humiliating themselves? _

She straightened and sighed before boldly turning her back to glide a hand over the damp wooden planks. This action left a layer of thick golden liquid which she used to keep the cage stuck there and turned around to see the boys eyeing her with an edge of unease. How had she done that weird thing?

"Can I ask you kids something?"

The tallest one rose his fish-lips in a snarl. "We're not kids!"

Ignoring him, she said, "Why do boys like hurting animals? Is it like some Neanderthal instinct or something? Or are you just idiots?"

"GRAH! Get her!" roared a Beanpole boy, and his shorter but more broad bodied followers swarmed Rem.

Some of the Mugiwara's tensed, waiting for something bad to happen, but then Rem stretched out her hands; from the distance it looked, to the crew, as though her arms turned into yellow crystal. The wave of gold ooze she sent out quickly slid across the wood planks and stuck the not-so-little terrors in place like fly paper.

"AGH! Why can't I move!"

"My shoes! They're new! My momma's gonna gut me and make me inta stew!"

Rem simply hummed an off tune song and turned to pick up the box. Still kneeling, the tapped the honey colored substance where it rested and all of it turned into fine dust which quickly blew away. She then turned back and wove through the flailing arms and heads before kneeling down and digging fingers beneath her hardened fruit-power ooze.

"How many of you can swim? Be truthful now."

Four rose shaky hands. "Good." And Rem gently wrenched the stuff each boy was stuck in and then tipped them into the ocean as though they were a couple of figurines and the golden solid dissolved immediately in the sea water, leaving the turds to swim for shore. Rem then darted away while cackling and sing-songing, "That's what you little bastards get~!"

Luffy's face popped up close to hers like a jack-in-the-box and Rem immediately froze mid-step, resisting the strong urge to scream bloody murder. "Join my crew!"

"I'll reiterate, little captain," Rem deadpanned. "NO. In every other language no means 'I will not', so please stop asking."

"What you did was cool!" said Usopp, who was running towards the two Fruit users excitedly. "What's your Devil Fruit?"

Rem decided to ignore Luffy's 'Aw, why not?' and reply to the long nosed boy. "It's called the Melle-Melle Fruit."

Sanji, smiling and looking interested, walked over. "If I'm not mistaken melle means honey."

Rem's impressed smile and nod had the handsome blond grinning goofily as he said, "Also, good job with those shitty brats."

Luffy poked his head in-between her and his cook before she could respond; he was still grinning. "Can I try some?"

It was like one of those comic book moments Rem read where a bird flies overhead and dots follow. "Er, what?"

Luffy kept grinning brightly, "Can I try some Melle-Melle stuff?"

Rem scratched at a scar on her cheek and tilted her head quizzically as she balanced the cage on one hand. "How about no."

Crossing his arms, Luffy now looked one step away from stomping a foot. "Why do you say no all the time? It's bugging me."

A crooked smile filled Rem's face while several crew members snickered, and like every other before this expression hid her teeth. "Well, how can I give you something that might make you sick?"

Luffy scratched his head. "Good point. Can I still try some?"

Rem puffed out a cheek in annoyance before spinning on a foot to walk away. "I'm leaving for something more productive..."

"Hey! Wait up, tell me why you won't join!" And Luffy started following her, by default several members did too just to keep an eye on him- no one wanted another wave of trouble on his account, now did they?

"Away with you!"

"C'mon! We'll have adventures and go everywhere and eat all kinds of meat!" Luffy began chasing her.

"GAH! You're infuriating!"

XD

Rem ended up escaping only thanks to Sanji and that wicked kick of his.

At the moment she was wandering a long rocky, thin beach one mile away from the main islands docks that could only be found if you cut through difficult forest terrain, and if you've had years to learn a forests usual ways. Her goal for that time, as the sun inched ever closer to the darkness bringing mountains, was to scour the amber sand of that beach for any treasures that may have been washed up from the waters and the peculiar currents of the vast Grand Line.

Fortune smiled on Opacare Isle in this manner because it resided at an opportune area and angle to find a wealth of things from all over the treacherous ocean current. That is, only if you were lucky enough to come across things all on your own.

It was as Rem was getting close to waist height in gentle green tinged surf to reach, with her toes, something shiny half buried in the sand that, of course, the recent temporary bane of her existence appeared.

"Whatcha doing?"

Rem screamed and whirled around with a demonic glint in her eyes. "What the heck! Why won't you leave me alone? Every other would-be recruiter has given up by now."

By 'every other' she would be referring to those sailors and nicer pirates that came to the island for supplies and rest, who took interest in her ability.

Luffy sat a several feet away, beyond the surfs reach and beside the bag she kept her findings in. He was nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he knelt down to watch her, all the while stupidly poking a neon purple crab with wicked pincers. His eyes, large and childishly sincere, vexed her for some mysterious reason.

"How come you won't join?"

A roll of her eyes was his answer as she tried swatting water at him, only to slip and go under. Luffy laughed and whipped out his hands to pull her and that large hat out of the surf.

"Thanks," she said, and took her hat back gratefully. "And I won't join because I'm not good pirate material."

"That's stupid." He crossed his arms, nodding to himself. "Anyone can be a pirate if they really tried."

Rem slicked back her milk-tea brown hair and rung out the hat as best she could. "I'm not good pirate stuff because of what I'll do when I get the chance to leave my home."

Luffy leaned closer, curious as to why his future nakama was so reluctant to join. "What will you do?"

"Certain stuff."

"That's not an answer...," he said and pouted slightly. Then he yelped and fell backwards, kicking his leg to get the purple crab off his toe, and it flew off to land in the water with a plunk. "Gah! I should have made Sanji cook that for me!"

A giggle made it passed Rem's mouth- somehow it was funny. He wanted to eat what had most people screaming in pain, then continued what she'd been about to say. "Of course it's an answer."

Luffy sat himself down closer to the native and crossed his arms. "But it's not! And you'd be great on my ship."

Rem shook her head, forgetting everything and nothing for a moment while she smiled indulgently. "Well, I don't think a future revolutionary would be good for your pira-," her voice cracked, halted and she looked like a rabbit cornered by the starved, slavering wolf.

Luffy stared at her, looking rather confused. Rem was sitting nearly stock still if it weren't for her fingers digging nervously in the sand. _Okay, he didn't notice what I said. If he says nothing about it than everything is-_

"Revolutionary? Cool!"

To Luffy's further confusion, he watched Rem's face go from very pale to very, very red. Her eyes widened enough for him to think they'd fall out, and then...

She was bolting off and disappearing into the dense forest beyond the beach as though shot out of a cannon.

"Hey, wait! You forgot your bag!"

* * *

**Review/comment and I'll have Sanji make every one of your favorite foods and sweets!**

**I kind of wanna apologize if my writing is awkward. I read a lot and that influences my vocabulary when writing. **

**_EDIT: I'm changing Straw Hat to Mugiwara because 1 it's easier and 2, I think it sounds better. Don't be afraid to point out if I've left a little 'Strawhat' here or there._**


	2. Food Hunt!

**Insert-Authors-Note-Here: I've proofread and taken out just about 400 words. I hope you enjoy this... *apologizes repeatedly for the length***

*****PS. Romance? Hah, none for a good while. Rem needs to grow some more. ****ALSO a really big thank you to Swaben for the review. Honestly, it's one of the best reviews I've ever gotten.**

***The Grudge image is courtesy of my friend. That comment nearly ruined Luffy for me. Contortionists really freak me out.**

* * *

**o0o**

In one movement Luffy was on his feet and swinging up the heavy bag of treasures as he bolted off after her calling, "Seriously! Come back heeeere!"

Through the densely packed forest he ran, tripping occasionally on thick undergrowth because of the blinding sunlight that filtered through the leaves above. Five minutes later, with him crashing through everything like a rhino and only narrowly excessively huge webs, Luffy grew bored of the chase and stopped to think (painfully) for a moment.

"Aha!" The captain put his nose in the air and spun on one foot, sniffing like a bloodhound. He quickly caught a smoky-sweet scent, one he recalled coming off of Rem that morning, going in a north-east direction. It took another fifteen minutes to make it through a long and twisty, faded obstacle course of a trail (one part, of which, had Luffy swinging over a river a la Tarzan style). Finally, Luffy made it to a large clearing.

Smack dab in the middle was a small dwelling; three huts built together, though the biggest middle one looked like it had an upstairs. Around it was tall grasses that went straight out in an oblong circle and towards the clearings perimeter he could see signs of a fire long past. The air was more bitter than sweet here.

Luffy ran up to the big hut. "Hey! Why'd you run? I have your-!" An acorn hit him on the top of the head and he dropped the bag.

"HEY! Don't throw stuff at my hat!" Luffy stood there, arms crossed as he waited impatiently for his soon-to-be nakama to do something.

Rem, who had leaned out of a high window, only stared down at him with a scowl, partly scared and partly ticked off that he'd managed to follow her through the forest. Just_ how _had he even managed that? It took her years to be able to navigate that place like any street in town. She eyed Luffy like she had more things waiting to bombard him with.

Unfortunately for her Luffy had a feeling she _would_ do that, so of course he did the Luffy-Logic smart thing. He reared back and shot his arms up to catch hold of the crude windowsill and suddenly Rem got an uncomfortably close look at the young captain before she flung herself back.

"What in the name of Gol D. Roger do you think your doing?" she said in a dead pan voice as she sat sprawled on the floor among the spilled sack of acorns she'd accidentally knocked aside.

Luffy tilted his head and shrugged. "Hanging. This seemed like a good idea if you kept throwing thing."

Seconds passed and each one of them felt closer to half an hour in Rem's psyche. Wasn't he going to accuse her now? Maybe blackmail her into joining his crew? Would he start attacking? Not long after this thought Luffy tired with the staring contest and climbed through the window to plunk himself down. _Still_, he never spoke a word about it.

"Fine," Rem said, growling slightly. She held in a childish pout directed at everything that was irritating her, present company included. "Follow me downstairs, I don't want you hanging around my room."

To look around the small space one would only see two chests, a box of candles, and a nest of blankets and pillows shoved in one corner.

"Sure, but do you have any food? I'm hungry."

Luffy and Rem crawled across the floor, on account of the low ceiling, to reach a hole that lead to a short ladder. Both teens dropped down to land on the dusty rug below. Rem's main room was a clutter of boxes and things that might have been better thrown out. Might we have a pack-rat in our midst?

"You sit over _there_," Rem said, voice bordering on harsh. She pointed out an empty corner of the room yet to be taken over by junk. Luffy shrugged and sat down cross-legged, then asked for food again.

Rem waved at him, mumbling something about snacks as she went out and quickly returned with the bag hefted into her arms.

"I've got jerky in the box a little to your left, the one with a heart on it. Go ahead and eat what's left, I need to go shopping anyway."

While Luffy pounced on the innocent box, she dumped the contents of her bag on an empty space of floor. Out poured a tumble of beautiful, odd shells, sparkling baubles polished by a journey at sea, and other weird objects washed in, as well as a few crystals. Eyes twinkling like a crow spotting a shiny treasure, Rem went about sorting things with a gleefulness similar to when the Mugiwara captain is given a feast.

Luffy moved to sit beside Rem, box cradled in his arms while he grabbed handfuls and stuffed his huge mouth. "Sho, wachsh shash shuff for?"

Rem took one look at Luffy and his ballooning face and almost choked laughing.

"S-swallow! I can't take you seriously like that!" Tears ran down her face as she shook with muted giggles. Luffy swallowed and had another handful in his mouth before he even thought of talking again.

Once Luffy had finished with the box he eyed it as though he thought it was hiding more meat.

At halfway through the pile of unsorted treasures, her own, despite the torturous temptation, was smaller than what she set aside for Caligo. Through the usual ritual of sorting her findings, Rem could nearly believe she hadn't spilt her secret in a momentary sense of... Well, finding words to describe it was hard, but 'self-deceptive sense of safety' worked.

"Why do you wanna be a revolutionary?"

The dainty white shell Rem held in her grip shattered at his words, leaving its shards to prick at her palm. Rem breathed deep, stemming the reflexive panic an her orange eyes, nervous yet steady, rose to meet Luffy's own black ones. For a moment he thought she'd flee again. Boy was he wrong.

One second the captain stared back at her curiously, the next she launched like a coiled spring to pin him down. Luffy's face could not have been more confused and he wondered what the hell she thought she was doing. Rem continued to stay where she was, leaning over him on hands and knees to stare at his face with quiet intensity. This was her attempt to see past the ingenuous, clear eyes she'd seen at the docks...

And _damn it all,_ she couldn't.

Finally Rem relented and shifted so she sat on his stomach instead.

"...Could you get off me?" Luffy whined more than asked.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm going to say something and you are going to listen. _Then_ I will move."

Luffy blinked at this but otherwise didn't seem to mind. "Okay, but I'll throw you off if you don't."

"Fine, Captain Rubberman." Rem leaned forward so she looked directly down at Luffy again. "First off, why revolutionary? Because people important to me were caught before they could, as far as I knew, accomplish anything. Secondly, the World Government is like a gravely double-sided sword at this point..."

"Why? And what does that mean?"

"Because..." A simile that Luffy would understand just wasn't coming to her, she started floundering. "Mm...Um... Okay! Say you had a _different_ Fruit power. Imagine it."

"Uh... Okay." Perplexed, thy name was Luffy.

"This power is strong and protects you. But using it shortens your life. That's what double-sided sword means. Understand?"

"I think so..."

"Good enough. Anyway, the world isn't being allowed to progress. Everything is at a standstill."

"What's a sandstill?"

"I said stand-still_,"_ Rem said with a strained sigh. "It...it means the government is rejecting change, evolution of society. How's this, do you know what happens when a pool of water is left still?"

Luffy grunted, looking like he was trying hard to think. Rem saved him the trouble. "Nasty things eventually take over and the peaceful water is a festering mess beneath its calm surface. That's the World Government. They allow too much atrocity, it's horrific. Something needs to change..."

Luffy scratched at his head, not really understanding why _she_ would want to be a revolutionary but he got something at least. "So you wanna save the world?"

Rem looked away and one hand came up to tug a lock of hair. She seemed torn. "Look, go ahead and think that. But I _know_ that if enough people band together they can change the bad, make it good. The _revolutionaries_ as a whole will 'save the world', but I just want to help."

Once more Rem waited for Luffy to start jeering at her, to start belittling everything she'd said. And, again, Luffy surprised her. Pleasantly, that is.

"Sounds cool."

Rem's head shot up, dismissing the old memory she'd unburied, to meet his stare. "Say what?"

"You have your dream and I have mine. I'll be the Pirate King someday! As a revolutionary you need to be strong, right?" Here he moved his arms and folded his hands behind his hat.

Somewhere deep inside, Rem already knew where Luffy was so obviously headed, but she nodded anyway. "Join my crew! We'll be hunted by the Marines anyway. Having a revolutionary won't make any difference. You'll get strong too."

Luffy's suddenly blinding grin settled the decision she'd entertained.

"Want to play a game tomorrow?"

**xXx**

"Why the hell are we doing this again?" said Zoro, glaring all around like he could set his surroundings on fire with his eyes. Playing a _game_ to have her join was ridiculous.

"She said she'd join the crew if she had enough fun," Luffy said, nearly bouncing on his feet from excitement.

"Who says she's good for the crew?" Zoro was not impressed with her. Not at all.

"She's got a power. I'd say that makes her useful somehow," Usopp pointed out through gasping breaths.

The trio were hiking through the forest along a very old and very obscure path that Rem had showed to Luffy. Yesterday it brought him straight back to Caligo, but today what should be a simple trip to her home was, well, not. Did the island change overnight? Luffy and his crew members crawled through thick, knotty forest, picking their way out of gnarled groves of viny trees, clambered over rock formations covered in slick moss, and generally made a huge ruckus of the hike.

"For all we know she's a useless fighter, a dead weight," grumbled Zoro as he yanked one of his swords free from a colossal, sticky web. He whipped the sheath about to get the remaining web off without touching it.

Next thing they knew, with not a leaf a shudder or a twig snapping, something struck. Or, more accurately, stole away...

"Ah!" Usopp suddenly yelped as he was hauled away and up, high in the air. The world span around and he dimly heard Luffy and Zoro calling for him as something sticky and ropy began coiling around him. Wait, was this-? Usopp started writhing and making as much noise as he could with the spider silk covering his mouth.

Down on the ground Luffy and Zoro exchanged a look before glancing upwards to see a fat, gruesome tarantula the size of a large wolf busily making Usopp into its breakfast.

"What the hell!" Zoro growled, and next thing he and the spider knew, he had it crushing him into the lush undergrowth along with a medley of dried bug carcasses. This happened because Luffy had launched a punch up there without a single thought, stunning the arachnoid.

"LUFFY! Get this off me!" Zoro would normally be okay, but the angle the heavy spider had fallen had him immobilized, tangled in its many limbs.

"Gimme a moment, Zoro!" said Luffy. He flexed his arms and grinned to himself for he found all of this really fun. "I just need to grab Usopp!"

"This things starting to move! Luffy, if this bug bites me I'll slice your ass off!"

Usopp was staying stock still. Maybe, if he didn't move the other spiders would think he already had his brain and innards eaten. Yeah, he's safe, definitely- Luffy's hand snagged Usopp's cocoon and the next thing the world-class fibber knew, his muffled scream was cut off by a painful collision with a little something called the forest floor.

With the tarantula moving around, accidentally freeing his hands, Zoro grabbed his swords and slashed the thing apart as he got away. Zoro stalked over to Luffy and the frantically wriggling, cocooned fibber and quickly sliced the threads off while he grumbled darkly under his breath.

"Freedom!" yelled Usopp as he broke the weakened silk with difficulty, not noticing his friends walking on. "I'll never take you for granted again!"

"Oi! Usopp, are you going to sleep there or something?" Zoro called from up ahead.

"Yeah, we need to meet up with Rem!"

Usopp jumped at the distance his friends had already made between him. "Hey! Wait up, I don't want anything eating me!"

**0oo0**

In half an hour the trio had made it to the clearing and found Rem sitting by her home. In front her was a metal bowl with something burning inside. Whatever was in the bowl filled the clearing with acrid, minty smoke. As they walked up to her she poured in a thick pale liquid from a bottle and started stirring and mashing alternately. Finishing this, she blew away the lingering smoke.

"Whatcha doing?" Luffy asked as he sat on his haunches nearby. The concoction looked silvery grey. Could he eat it?

"This'll keep me from getting eaten alive, hopefully," Rem said, murmuring distractedly.

Usopp watched curiously and asked, "Is this some kind of lotion?"

Zoro scoffed. "Probably doesn't want a sunburn."

"For your information, swordsman," Rem said placidly. "It's a bug repellant."

"Whatever," came his grumbled reply.

Rem ignored the boys and pulled off the sweater she wore, leaving her in a simple green tank top. Not paying them any mind, she started smoothing in the lotion everywhere that wasn't covered by her overall shorts and shirt, face included. Once done she looked up to find two awkward faces while Luffy looked oblivious.

"What?" Rem was confused.

Zoro coughed, looking all the more irritable because of her. "That kind of thing needs to be done in private."

"Oh, really? Well time was saved," said Rem, voice gentle. "Also, you shouldn't have watched if _you_ were bothered. Does anyone have problems with bugs?"

Usopp raised his hand and Rem handed the bowl to him. "Use what's left of that. I'd rather not have you getting eaten."

Five minutes later the group was heading out of the oblong clearing each carrying a large canvas bag.

"So we're out here doing what again?" said Zoro, speaking in such a way that Rem thought a lion might crawl out of skin and start mauling someone.

"Well," Rem said, walking lightly, excited. "Tonight is the Luna Corona Festival. There are ingredients only usable when freshly picked, so we're going to hunt them down."

Usopp fell in step with Rem. "Like...scavenger hunting?"

"Sorta. Each of you has an ingredient to grab. We'll stay in a group because I know the forest and don't want anyone getting shredded or fed to any beastie's babies."

Usopp balked. "I suddenly remember! I left the stove on in the ship!"

Zoro smacked Usopp's head. "Idiot. Keep moving. Faster we get this over with, faster we get out and away from all these- DAMNED SPIDER WEBS!"

Rem snickered. Now Zoro was walking with his swords out and he was looking everywhere he stepped. This would be the eighth time, how can he not see those webs?

**000xxx000**

Minutes later they stood at the bottom of a looming cliff with jagged rocks jutting along its surface. Towards the top a plant grew with curled leaves and many petaled grey flowers. On this plants branches hung large bell pepper-like purple fruit that all had a kidney shaped growth on the bottom- Rem called these Kidney Nuts, or more widely known as Cashews, a species specific to Opacare and several other islands.

Silence filled the group for a moment as they looked at the cliff, for it was _really_ tall. Massive, easily overreaching the height of a giant.

Everyone could hear Usopp swallow hard. "So...," he said, voice an octave higher. "Who's climbing first?"

"I AM!" Luffy exclaimed as he jumped onto the cliff, already crawling up the steep face like a spider (or picture, if you will, Luffy climbing like the Grudge Woman?*).

"How about no!" Rem said and jumped just high enough to latch onto the boys leg and knock him down.

"What was that for?" asked Luffy, looking petulant.

"Why can't he go get them?" Usopp said, questioning.

Rem shot all each male a patient look. "The cashews need a very gentle touch. I might ask Usopp since he seems the least monstrously strong, but I don't want to force him into it," ("Thanks Rem!" and insert comical tears of relief here). "So I'll...go up myself and fill my pack..."

So Rem stood below, procrastinating in the same spot she'd planted her feet many a time before. Her face was distinctly anxious as she stared upwards.

Zoro nearly smirked at her. "What's wrong? Afraid to climb?"

She turned to him and shook her head firmly. "I _will_ climb. I just need you three to watch my back from here. I'm going to use my fruit power and that attracts things. If you guys let _anything _bite me, I'll never join your crew."

"Got it!" said Luffy, grinning as he readied a fist.

"Yeah, I'll shoot down anything coming towards you!" exclaimed Usopp, pulling out a green sling shot and odd looking marbles.

"Just get going," Zoro said. He rested a hand on one of three swords and gazed up with a sharp, serious look in his eyes.

"Right... But, uh, don't get freaked out too much, okay?"

Three pairs of eyes landed on Rem as she rubbed her hands together with a face that looked like one being sent to an electric chair or Impel Down, then she shook her head hard enough for it to hurt. Hands turned translucent, stretching to shape a gecko's foot; her hands reformed in the crystal and she wriggled her digits, making the gecko-foot flex.

And up the cliff she went, climbing perhaps a little too fast and nicking herself on rocks for the effort. She reached the plants in record time and here came the tricky part. Thanks to the form fitting thin material of her dark tank top, the honey-substance she could secrete most places on her body bulged through the shirt near her hips and stretched out, elongating to form a Melle Crystal arm and another pair of gecko-feet while the ones on her hands drew back into her flesh. While her real arms and hands went to work gathering, her Melle-Arms clung to the cliff.

"Whoa! That's so cool!" Luffy yelled, dancing around on the spot in sheer excitement.

"That's disturbing," Zoro said, grumbling as he watched her.

"Eugh..." Usopp looked twitchy.

Suddenly, as the sound of rustling plants and the light thump of cashews filling Rem's bag filtered down, Zoro spotted movement along the cliff. What crawled into the light was long and segmented like a millipede, but extremely fuzzy like a Woolly Bear Caterpillar, though the thing was orange and pink instead of brown, and also sported a pair of huge pincers.

"Oi, Usopp." Zoro elbowed the sharp shooter and pointed out the bug. "Shoot that down before it gets her."

Moments later there was an small boom as one of Usopp's Gunpowder Stars hit it and knocked the mammoth insect down to the ground. It landed with a dull, heavy thump and a startling screech.

"GYAAH!" Usopp dove behind a tree to leave the thing for Luffy and Zoro to kill.

Afterwards... "Can we eat it?" asked Luffy.

"No, Luffy." Zoro actually didn't know it the thing was edible but he was _not_ about to let himself or the captain eat the hairy abomination.

"This island is evil!" came Usopp's voice, muffled by hugging the mossy tree.

Ten minutes later, filled with Zoro, Luffy and a scared Usopp shooting down and massacring many insects of different shapes and sizes, each scarier than the those before, Rem shoved the last cashew in her bag. The native scrambled back down the cliff and gingerly landed down among the bug carcasses, and did a funny hop-dance to get away from the pile. Her bag bulged and looked heavy, but she didn't bat an eye, so Zoro dismissed it and decided that the fruit must be light.

"You guys are amazing!" Rem exclaimed from her distant seated position on the leafy ground. She was down there because her knees had turned to jelly at being so relieved- she wasn't bitten! First time in _years_ that she'd had a perfect cashew harvest.

"Where'd those extra arms go?" Zoro asked, blunt and to the point.

"Um. Back in my body? I don't leave Melle-Crystal lying about if I can help it because, like I said, attracts predators. Plus, if I don't reabsorb it, I'd be weaker since I'm taking sugars and minerals out of my body to make it."

"Hnn." Zoro, ever the silver-tongue.

"Can I have a cashew?"

"No, Luffy," Rem muttered, looking around for a specific trail now. "Only the accessory fruits are edible until the nuts are roasted or cooked."

"Can I have some fruit?"

"No. This is all for the festival."

"Darn it."

Usopp fell in step with Rem again, eyes curious. "What else can you do with your devil fruit powers?"

"A lot because it can be versatile. The limit is in my body, though, since Melle Crystal isn't limitless. But, as my mom said once, I'm 'strong like an ox', so I might be able to make up for what my power fails in."

Usopp smiled at her before looking ahead with a thoughtful expression while Luffy and Zoro talked and or argued about something, ("Look at that! Let's roast it and eat it, Zoro." "No." "Aw, why not?"). Finally the sharp shooter looked over to ask another question as he glanced at marks that were suspiciously precise. "Are... all of those scars from bug attacks?"

Rem turned her head and smiled crookedly. "Yep. Unlucky, huh?"

**oo00oo**

More minutes passed and they came to a crevasse in the middle of a thickly grassy clearing. The opening was smothered with plants, making it appear to be solid ground. When uncovered it was as pitch black as any oceanic abyss. Luckily Rem had pulled Usopp away from stepping into it, otherwise he would have had a very painful death.

"What are we getting here? I'll say this now, I am not going down there..." Usopp said with teeth chattering. He imagined horrific beasts coming up from below to eat everyone.

"Looks like a death trap." Zoro sounded dubious.

"Awesome! Can I go down there this time?" Luffy seemed a bit too excited for this task, too loud.

Rem tilted her head as she looked at each male. "How about Zoro. You come with me."

"What? Why me?" He'd expected her to take Luffy since he was so willing to go in that death trap. In the background Luffy was protesting uselessly.

"Because Usopp looks ready to faint if I have him do it_. _And I also need someone who knows how to be silent." Her words had Zoro glaring at his crew mates. The native girl decided against using the old 'Only if your brave enough' trick, much too easy.

Before Zoro could question his agreement in coming with her, he was being lowered into the crevasse beside Rem with dense ropes tied around their waists made from the tough vines in the surrounding clearing. Both also had wire mesh balls taken from Rem's pocket and stuffed with the soft leaves of sun drenched flora above. As soon as the darkness eclipsed the duo Zoro was left to be surprised at the startling amount of light emitted from them.

"Your island is weird," Zoro said, and quickly decided against talking normally when his voice echoed a dozen times.

"I know, but I still love it. Now if you have to talk, whisper like your life depends on it."

"Does it?" Zoro now had a face like, 'If looks could strangle.'

"...Maybe. But I know how to deal with the creatures," said Rem, mostly lying to try, and fail, to assuage Zoro's uneasiness. "Plus, the light keeps them away normally."

"You make it sound so reassuring," Zoro said, eyes darting from one side of the crevasse to the other. He could see only the stone faces glimmering in the light from either moisture or minerals, and the blackness around them almost seemed to press in like a physical thing.

"Shush and start pulling."

Zoro turned to glare at the girl but she took his face in one hand, leaving her surprised at how different guys felt compared to her soft childish cheeks, and turned him to see what they came down there for: a lush, plant-like moss that, in the white-gold light of the leaves, looked like a bleached silver-blue.

"...Moss? What can you make with this?" Zoro's question was never answered and he didn't repeat it.

To the swordsman and fruit users relief nothing came to attack. Just as well though, if the _things_ had come Rem was very sure she and him would not have gotten out with every limb still attached, if even. Rem was first to clamber back into the sunlit world and she quickly turned to hold out her hand to Zoro. For a moment he looked at the limb like her fingers were venomous worms, but he relented and took a hold of her smaller hand to let her haul him up when a slithering and scraping sounded below him.

Like thunder striking, something roared below with an undulating screech of shrill, tinier creatures beneath the dull, ear-stabbing volume.

Usopp screamed and dove behind a boulder, positive the monsters he'd imagined were about to climb up and eat him. Zoro stared at the hole with a look that said he was thanking his personal Lady Luck while Rem backed away as though she'd been burned. Luffy? He was simultaneously excited for a fight and only a little worried... What if the monsters ate the food they gathered?

"What the _hell_ is that?" Usopp yelled from far back in the clearing.

Rem swallowed. "The...uh, let's call them Night Shriekers. They come out on the nights of Luna Corona to find prey. You might meet them later on tonight..."

"What do they look like?" Zoro said with a hard, watchful face as he glanced along the crevasse. He did not like that it was longer than the Going Meri.

"Nothing you want to meet. But since they always come near the town at some point, your blades will, er, taste their blood."

At this Zoro smirked. "Good."

* * *

**666**

* * *

**How was the chapter? Too long? Too boring, not enough action? Characters OOC? Details drab and tasteless?**

**I need to hear these things if I'm going to be a better-than-mediocre writer. Please review... It saves chibi-Ace's and chibi-Chopper's from Wapol's tummy.**

_**Excerpt:**_

_Two things happened at once right then:_

_A shrill, brain piercing wail split the night; a thousand voices shrieking from the woods beyond where the lanterns once spilled their protective light._

_Men rushed out of the forest and out of buildings surrounding the town square. Like ghosts they seemed to step out of nowhere, yelling for surrender and ordering that the women and girls be gathered. All men were to be locked up and chained in the jail house._


	3. Joining the Crew

**It's kind of hard for me to believe how easily this chapter came...**

**OH yes, I also give thanks to Swaben for the second review. PS, Rem thinks Vivi is in the crew. No one's told her anything as of yet. That's why it probably sounds like Vivi is a crew mate in my chapters.**

* * *

**Rem's View**

Saying my anger could have burnt the hairs out of the Devil's nose is putting it mildly.

First it's this horrible wail from the Night Shriekers signalling _their_ unwanted and god awful presence. Then that army of mildly well-dressed pirates swarm the square, taking hostages left and right, all holding guns to the hostages heads with eyes that show they would have liked to blow a few skulls off.

Could this night get any worse? Oh, yes! How could I forget, the pirates want to do dirty things to people too!

While I stand with Luffy and his crew, not really registering anything they might be saying to me, I watch all of this with a twisted expression I have no desire to see. I notice Sanji practically froth at the mouth. A conniption fit at seeing female hostages? When Sanji decides to lunge at the pirates it's Luffy, surprisingly, who holds him back.

Doubly throwing me for a loop, since I never quite got the sense he could think like a normal person in extreme situations, he faces me with a frown to say, "This is your home, Rem. Should we fight now or wait for a better chance to save the hostages?"

While still in my angry haze, feeling my heart thump angrily, Luffy is like a bucket of water to the face.

"Let's...wait for a better chance," I say quietly. My voice is steady despite how much I don't want the lives of all my people on me.

At the captains nod of agreement all of the Mugiwara's, as I've come to think of them, tense, ready to strike whenever the chance comes.

I am left to stand twitchy, wondering if pulling out my spear might catch unwanted attention.

With all of those hostages? No, the chance is too great.

More pirates slip out of the forest like shadowed tigers, big and powerful. After these guys a man follows. Ever heard the term 'a slip of a girl'? Well it might have applied to him had the man been younger and less, well, ugly. Underneath the Luna Corona's brilliant glow his skin looks bleached, skull like; especially with the hollows in his cheeks. What's worse, his eyes are such a pale color that they catch the light to glint like a ruthless jungle panther before its kill. To top this off he's bald.

"Why, hello there people of Caligo! Such a pleasant night to be alive, is it not? My name is Ranrook the Deep Freeze!"

Oh, that voice. I hate it from the first syllable- loud, prideful and overbearing; rough from too much burning alcohol and yelling orders to kill this man or destroy this home. Just like a Marine who's had too many people bow before him simply for being with the World Government.

"Seeing as I'm a man with a bounty of sixty-six million Beli, I assure you good folk, I _am_ quite difficult to kill," here his lips stretch thinly, jumping with a sick amusement. "Get within a twelve foot radius of me and you could be frozen like a toad in winter."

Ranrook, dressed in a sweeping patchwork cloak made of silks likely taken from those he's pillaged and gutted, twirls like he's high on something and giggles quietly. "I've heard of this festival! The Luna Corona, yes? It's supposed to be something about a little goddess who got herself stuck up there! I would so like someone to come tell me the story before I go about the business of plundering this town, having my way with the lovely natives, and generally strangling the old with their intestines!"

Eyes as sharp as glacial diamonds rove the frozen crowd, lingering on many of the women and teenage girls. His eyes settle on me at one point but, like some higher power was getting its kicks through me, he looks away and soon chooses someone I can't to stand to let near him.

"You there, little thing with the stuffed frog! Come here and tell ol' Uncle Ranny about this festival!"

Nadia is only eight. At this young age she could already be called angelic with her cherubic cheeks, sweet disposition, and a willingness to also chase down bullies hurting defenseless animals. As Nanik's grand daughter and one of the handful I managed to especially love here at the island; to watch her take timid, small steps to the pirate is like having someone pluck at my heartstrings with red hot hooks. Without a thought to 'what after?' I bolt past Luffy and crew to scoop her up.

Immediately over two dozen guns aim at me as I walk to Nanik. I imagine my face, usually an open book at the worst of times, is a whirlwind of emotions. Nanik takes Nadia into his arms with solemn eyes. I can hear him reassuring Nadia that I'd be fine just to keep her from going into hysterics over Aunty Remy.

Guns still aim at me. I swear I can feel their presence like bugs crawling beneath my skin.

"Ooh, and who is this hero?"

"I'll tell you about this festival."

Ranrook sneers, grinning like a maniacally unbalanced clown. "Throw your weapon over to this big guy here!" The sleazy man nudges his head in the direction of a human mountain with a fluff of brown hair and tiny crap colored pebbles for eyes. I do what Mr. Skulls told me and throw my simple spear at the possibly seven foot manbeast just before coming to stand beside Ranrook.

Mr. Mountain catches the spear with surprising skill and clenches his hand hard enough for veins to pop out.

My spear does not splinter. Mr. Mountain looks confused.

Ranrook sighs like someone had asked if he'd wanted extra cheese with his meal one time too many. He orders Mr. Mountain to snap the spear over the manbeasts tree-trunk like knee.

Moments later a dull crunch can be heard over the buzz of everyone's fearful muttering. Mr. Mountain let's out a scream that sounds rather girly and drops my spear as though it had burned him in addition to possibly shattering his knee.

Ranrook observes his giant crew mate with apathetic eyes before he and turns and asks, "What is your spear made of, girl?"

"Wood from a particular tree found here and a few other islands," I say casually. And because my jittery nerves didn't stop me from running my mouth, I also state, "Someone as weak as your pet there wouldn't have been able to break it."

A glint, maybe a shadow of what is to come, flits through Ranrook's eyes as he closes the space between us with a single step. "Can you break it?"

"If your pet couldn't I certainly can't. An actual giant probably could though, but since I like the spear I'll keep from experimenting."

Before I can blink Ranrook has a painful grip on me just below the neck, and the instinct to break his arm or nose is just below intollerable. "You, child, are insufferable. Tell me the story quickly and I'll make sure my crew treats you _lovingly_. Isn't that a good deal?"

His crew will what? At his words another geyser of rage bubbles up along with thoughts I don't want to think again. _Want to throw up, spit in his face. Tear him apar, snap his spine! Kill him before he touches your town, your family! Hurry, make it quick, painless- killkillkill- what will he do to you? What will his crew do to **Nadia?**_

I feel my breathing grow harsh from terror, from the hate, from my dark, spiralling thoughts. Behind me I move my shaking hands and fingers, making an X. Did Luffy or Zoro get what that means? Please, someone tell me Nami got the message: DON'T ATTACK YET!

Ranrook's skeletal face twists into a lopsided sneer and his other hand lands on me just above my breasts. Clenching my teeth hard enough for my ears to throb barely keeps me from pushing him down to stomp on his family jewels till they pop like- like something nasty. Anyway, his bony hand slides up like a thing, like, goddess forbid, a baby Woolly Centipede. Keeps slithering until his hand wraps itself around my throat, gripping in a way that tells me he might, on a whim, crush my neck.

"Now that I think of it," said the psychotic captain after cocking his head, curious like a grotesque sparrow. "What was that horrid noise my crew and I heard before this delightful encounter?"

He only thinks to _now_ ask that- wait, never mind. Psycho denotes abnormal thinking.

"The islands watch dogs," I say, face as straight as the pain will allow, which isn't much. Yes, I'm well aware of my stupidity.

I blink and I have a face full of Ranrook, breathing his rancid breath heavily; he looks pissed. "Answer truthfully now."

"Vicious creatures that hunt in the night- that are nearly perfect predators that my town has grown well accustomed to fighting. The beasts have a fondness for men and their meat, just so you know."

Ranrook's face suddenly changes. He looks like a sane man. As if at one point he'd been a reasonable, kind hearted individual. That is who I see, and the fear it brings hurts my stomach. He turns to a tall, scarecrow like member of his crew and gestures at Nanik.

Who Scarecrow fetches has my heart stuttering, leaving everything surreal.

Soon Nadia is carried up to me, held much like a kitten in the crook of Scarecrow's arm. She's not moving at all. She looks paralyzed and watches me with wide but terrified eyes that gouge my heart, they gouge because I can see she trusts me. Her young eyes stay on mine, saying she knows everything will end well even while Scarecrow has his blade pointed at her.

"Any more lip and I'll have Rudy here carve off the tykes face to make another mask. Understand?"

I nod, tongue feeling too thick to speak.

When Ranrook asks for the Earth-Moon goddesses story all he gets is the basics; and from the twitchy, amiable crook of his lips, he knows it. Problem? I only know the basics.

"Is this all you can tell me?"

I nod, feeling a lead ball of dread drop the ground beneath me. Ranrook sighs as though I'd fumbled a very good looking apple into an ant hill. "Frankly, I don't believe you."

And with a snap of his finger I start screaming along side Nadia as Rudy slowly digs the blade into the side of her sweet face. It's the blood as much as it is seeing Nadia screaming that has me screeching like an enraged animal mother.

What follows after this is hard to, well, follow. Believe me, I try damn hard.

Screams fill the night air and as Ranrook keeps his hand around my neck while looking everywhere frantically, his hold on me becoming unbearably painful. My head is too shaken, I can't really think well to do anything when I know Nadia can easily be killed at a word.

I begin to hate screaming all the more, how the shrillness pierces, until I identify the voices as no one from my home, then it's all welcome because I don't have the mind to consider whether it's tourists the screaming.

Honestly, had it not been for Ranrook's hand, I'd be watching Luffy's crew beat the crap out his cruel pirates.

Just as I begin feeling my lips twitch in delight at the agony of Ranrook's crew, I hear a yelp.

Nadia.

The bastard drags my head down enough to show him standing partly on her back- what else has he done without my notice?- and he snaps my head back up to look him in the eyes. I wish I could have seen what he did, for whatever violent intent he glimpses in me, the look has the captain begin my death.

Nadia whimpers and speaks past the strain on her lungs, "Remy, you have to escape him! Skeleton Man will kill you, get away!"

My mind barely hears her because it's drowning in hate and anger, lust to hear his bones snapping- fingers, they're hell, or maybe the femur in his thigh.

Goddess, the _absolute hate. _If they aren't Marine it's hard for me to get this filled with rage towards anyone, but Ranrook makes me taste blood on my tongue, I can hardly articulate my hate for him, just what I feel for the Marine's and World Government.

I'll take this moment to mention the bad guy nearly choking me. Ranrook the Deep Freeze, he wields cold temperature. A stunted power compared to Marine Admiral Kuzan's but potentially as dangerous a power to anyone getting close to him.

For Ranrook, going in for the kill means he freezes my neck as thoroughly as a shot of liquid nitrogen, except it's a slow process. The cold from his hand starts as a slight chill going bone deep, deceptively gentle. As the cold jumps, making what feels like tiny knives of ice dig inch by inch deeper, I'm wishing this could all be a dream or a scene in a book. If this was, I could will him away or as a heroine I could beat him and help Luffy and crew finish all the bad guys off.

But this is _me._

I'm not fast enough to do anything. The cold feels like its reaching my brain, my thinking is sluggish. If I were to do anything, Ranrook, with his foot on Nadia's tiny back, only needs to put his weight down and he snaps her ribs, maybe crushes her heart.

It's hopeless. I'm hopeless.

If this isn't my time to die then someone will have to risk themselves to save me.

They might bleed. The thought horrifies me as much as Nadia dying.

A shiver has me shaking worse than a leaf in a hurricane and Ranrook sneers in delight_._ _Remember Nadia, don't do a thing. Do it and _you _kill her._

Colder. Colder still. The ice needles growing deeper into my neck are more painful, but once the pain leaves I feel an absolute nothing. Very, very bad...

I look away from Ranrook as everything gets hazy. I can't stand him. I want to scream, I want to curse him out so much his toes curl, but as it is I can hardly breathe. My throat can't work enough to swallow something wintry lodged there like a lump of peanut butter.

Seconds blur, I'm praying to the goddess, whatever her real name may be, that Nadia lives. She's already bled because of me. If she dies, and should I still live, I'll follow after crippling a few Ranrook Pirates. My parents would understand, they definitely would if it came to that.

Black spots dance like black bumblebees crowding my vision. Thinking actually hurts, not enough oxygen.

My head falls limp and I stay conscious long enough for Nadia to shriek my name.

**Third POV**

A lone figure, tall and lithe, perhaps a bit feminine, lingers outside the town square and up a tree as the fight continues.

Though this figure looks like a man, with a broad, supple build, and virtually no chest, the stranger is female. Her face, handsome and angular with a sharp fire behind green eyes, moves, scanning the square like she is watching a particularly interesting group of sea-moose fighting for a female.

Her name, to those with their nose stuck in the Wanted Ads, is Thunderclap Kenny.

Kendrin is her real name. Her hair is what had people assuming her gender, besides her physique; one half is cut close while leaving a clump of hair hanging before her ear, an overgrown sideburn. The other side of her hair is long and swept back, an identical lump of hair rests in font of her ear on the side of her head. She is not dressed like the festival goer's. Men's trousers, a wine red vest over a fish net shirt, she looked either odd or intimidating depending on the persons view.

Kendrin is here on the island for one reason only. Weaver Hani's daughter, Rem.

And the brat had walked up to the leader and gotten herself caught scarcely three minutes past the invasions start.

"How is it that such intelligent people bred this sow of a daughter? Inexplicable," Kendrin growls, voice low and husky. "The power of throwback genetics I suppose."

Rem is lasting against Ranrook's power, so Kendrin gives her a grain of sand in terms of respect.

Another minute passes. Kendrin heaves a heavy sigh that might be too dramatic. "If Hani finds out I let the bitch suffer, I'll find my money turned into _cloth._ Fuck."

In a minutes time Kendrin is sprinting down to the square and walking leisurely through the chaotic fight between native, Mugiwara pirate, and the enemy as she pulls a lump of metal out of her hand from her very skin. It is the iron she absorbed this morning. Steps away from Deep Freeze Ranrook, moving like a tangible ghost, Thunderclap Kenny stretches the iron into a needle and shoves the haphazardly made senbon into Ranrook's back, missing vital points purposely.

"Guak-!" Ranrook stiffens, pain shooting through his back from near his spine. Rage of a level that grossly opposes his Devil Fruit ability rushes up, flooding the skull man's complexion with an ugly, exceptionally ruddy hue.

Upon turning to see who has the gall to attack him... He quickly goes back to being moon pale.

Thunderclap Kenny, the revolutionary from Goa Kingdom.

"Old man, move and inch outside of my orders and you get to know what an overheated hot dog feels when it blows up."

Ranrook shakes, silent and close to pissing himself.

Kendrin's handsome face smiles in a rare show of, albeit twisted, amusement. "Move yourself off the child before I decide to see how long you can live without legs or a dick."

With hurried steps the ruddy captain backs off, still dragging Rem by the neck that leaves her head at an awful angle.

Unhurried by the older girls predicament, Kendrin glances down at the crying child on her knees, from the looks of her she's mostly unharmed. With another sigh she orders Ranrook to withdraw the cold he'd put into Rem's neck.

Kendrin feels a dull thump of rare unease in her heart when Ranrook answers that order with a look that screams he might as well off himself now.

"You can't." A statement, accompanied by a wince of sympathy for 'Weaver Hani' Hania. Kendrin shrugs as Ranrook drops Rem like a doll smeared with crap. "Old man, you should run while I'm feeling generous."

Ranrook the Deep Freeze, such a notorious pirate, turns tail and takes off through his fighting crew mates without a single thought for them, like a flea bitten wolf with its tail between its legs.

The revolutionary rolls her eyes and blows a few bangs out of her vision. She then clenches a fist.

Fifteen yards away Ranrook dies in the blink of an eye. The uneven metal needle still in his back grows hot, glowing white. The useless captain stumbles to his knees, screaming "No!" over and over. And then? He explodes, leaving his charred remains to shower down on his crew and the Mugiwara's.

After this the battle ends quickly.

Kendrin, followed closely by little Nadia, picks up Rem as all of Ranrook's crew takes off at the sight of Thunderclap Kenny, mostly because the sound of her Devil Fruits explosions is always so distinctive when not controlled enough. Now that the pirates have left, Luffy and his crew are hurrying around, calling for the missing Rem. Well, most of them except Zoro. The swordsman is the only calm one of the group.

Nadia brings Luffy over to Kendrin as the revolutionary starts gently rubbing the frosty flesh on Rem's neck.

Luffy takes one look at who he thinks of as nakama and freaks out, arms flailing. "Is she DEAD? She can't be dead!"

Before Luffy can so much as blink Kendrin has shoved Rem into the captains arms with a growl of, "This one is _your_ problem. As stupid as she is, take care of her Monkey D. Luffy."

Luffy nods, face a mask of childish seriousness before his jaw nearly hit Rem's head as it dropped. "How do you know my name?"

Kendrin raises an eyebrow at the young captain, then looks over the boys shoulder and slaps a hand to her face. "I think your red haired nakama is hurt!"

Immediately Luffy turns around and runs over to Nami yelling like a maniac.

This leaves the twenty-four year old revolutionary to disappear back into the forest to inspect the weird creatures she'd killed with her Observation Haki and weaker Armament Haki a little earlier. These things were rather strange, like mutated land creatures adapted to a world of no light... Kendrin smirked. These things could probably sell for a lot.

One thing's for sure. She never expected Luffy to be so unlike his father. It nearly makes her want to laugh like she was thirteen again. Before the High Ups burned Gray Terminal.

**Rem's View!**

I awake to a freaky sight and a weird tickle in my neck._ At least_, I think, _I've been thawed._

Luffy, Sanji and Usopp are surrounding my bed, all looking concerned. Why, for starters? And were they assigned to keep me bed-bound by Nanik? Probably.

I sit up, still sleepy but hoping to reassure them. I say, "What's with those looks? I'm hungry."

Nothing but a wordless croak comes out , what just happened?_  
_

Sanji looks worried and just a bit pissed off about something. Luffy looks worried too, but at a different degree. I could bet he's thinking something about food and whether I'd ever eat again, because we all know when you can't eat, _that_ is the end of the world. Usopp looks slightly forlorn. Thanks for the confidence, bud.

As Sanji opens his mouth to say something Usopp says, "How's your throat?"

The tickle suddenly jumps into a familiar, maddening itch in my throat and I wince at the same time as my stomach growls.

Sanji's on his feet all of a sudden. Did I zone out? He tells me he's going to make me some soothing tomato soup, and at my nod he disappears. Luffy and Usopp start talking about things, talking about the festival. Luffy says he won both the Chicken Pot Pie eating contest _and_ the Chocolate Pie one, as well as several other food contests.

Damn it, I usually win the chocolate pie contest. Stupid Ranrook...

I nearly fall out of bed in my panic. Usopp and Luffy push me back under the covers and Usopp's asking why I want to get out of bed. I mime writing. Luckily, while Luffy's scratching his head in confusion, the smart sniper pulls out a worn notepad and a graphite pencil.

'How is Nadia Ghydion doing? Granddaughter of Nanik? Little angelic looking girl who chases animal abusers with big sticks?'

Usopp laughs a bit at the end of my note and nods. "I think I saw her earlier. Frog toy?" I nod. "Yep, she's pretty hyper for a kid who went through what she did."

My smile at Usopp is wide, nearly showing my pearly whites. I'm proud of her and shamed that she had to go through it at all.

But she's strong... More than I was at her age, that's for sure.

Soon Sanji returns with a small bowl of delicious smelling creamy soup. The considerate-if-a-little-pervy cook points at my neck. I reach up and I can feel several layers of carefully applied bandages wrapped around my throat. I eat a spoonful and the soup actually soothes the itch. Sanji grins when I make a delighted face after eating.

I write another note. 'I feel fine, don't worry too much. Will I be able to talk again?'

Sanji's smile fades into a serious expression. "I know you will, Rem-chan. Have faith! I bet you're a great healer."

"Yeah!" says Luffy, bouncing into the conversation. "Of course you'll get your voice back. If you don't, how will you sing pirate songs with the rest of the crew when we find a musician?"

Sanji visibly refrains from kicking Luffy in my wounded presence but does smack the captains head. "Singing doesn't matter, you idiot."

"But it does! And also, I'm hungry Sanji. Can I have some soup too? And meat?"

Usopp grins with a face that says he remembers something and nudges Luffy. "Isn't there a better question to be asking, captain?"

Luffy slaps Usopp's back. "Duh! Rem, c'mon and join my crew!"

I look at Luffy like he's more crazy than he probably is. Another note, 'I was useless in the battle you know.'

Usopp and Sanji are grinning as Luffy shrugs. "You took the place of your nakama so _she_ wouldn't be at that skull bastards mercy. You're brave, Rem. Of course we want you on the crew!"

I don't bother mentioning that if it hadn't been eight year old Nadia, I _probably_ wouldn't have jumped out there.

Decision time: Pros to Joining:

1) I'll get stronger.

2) I'll travel, see the world, and have chances to possibly meet fellow revolutionaries.

3) I'll get to eat Sanji's cooking.

4) Luffy's crew seems fun to bug and hang out with.

Cons to Joining:

...I can think of a thousand cons to leaving town. Question is, do I want to stay now and leave too late to make a difference? What if my presence, as small as I am, is what will make a difference in changing the World Government? Plus I'll be eating Sanji's food...

I scratch out another note, smiling. 'Okay then! I'll join your crew Luffy.'

"AWESOME! Sanji, make a HUGE breakfast tomorrow, okay? Lot's of bacon! We want to be all rested up an' full of energy when we leave."

The three go to leave after telling me to take it easy, but a question nags at me. I do have a debt after all.

A paper ball hits Luffy's head. Usopp picks it up. "Who saved you last night?"

I nod. Luffy thinks for a moment and also looks like his brain might implode from the action. "Oh!" The rubber man smacks a fist into his palm.

When Luffy turns to me with a big grin and says who saved me...

I won't hide the truth. I faint.


	4. Jungle Challenge

**AN: W I changed a **_**very**_** miniscule part in the canon-chapter to make this work. I'll also start writing shorter chapters that are easier to bite into, you know?**

***Ito-Ito means thread, yard, string.**

* * *

I fainted, but that's not a big deal. So what if it was Thunderclap Kenny or _Ninety Scars Crane?_ Nothing wrong with that. Absolutely, positively nothing! Uhehe. . .

. . .That hysterical giggle just now was all your imagination.

Ahem.

Once I woke up and buried the mortification for later, I snuck out of Nanik's home and went to my place in the woods so I could pack a few things. Believe me, walking in Opacare forests just after daybreak when the sun is filling the interior with warm sunlight is a world different from night time. I was completely fine, especially after putting on some repellant.

My throat barely bugged me, really.

**.**

**.**

**.**

For next while things go smoothly. . . I mean semi-quietly.

I watch the crew and continue to be amazed at how these different people mesh so well together. What is it that holds them combined? After an hour of wandering about and observing them I think it's Luffy. While the captain seems a little, um, on the dense side, he's got this _energy_. Kinetic, constantly moving, and magnetic in a pleasant way. Like, though you might bash him in the head with a pan or kick him, punch him- you still like the little guy.

Watching the crew has me starting to wonder how I'll fit with them in the long run. Time will tell.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Little Garden comes into view. Right from my first look at it I'm not sure I'll leave the ship willingly.

The sheer size of this island, with its jungle a dozen times _bigger_ than Opacare forest, is probably natures warning that the bugs here are hell spawn.

Back home there was enough buggy-trouble to last me a lifetime. I will _not_ go have an adventure here just to see any cool animals, prehistoric plants, or to look for anything pretty. . .

Vivi says, "We should be careful. . . I'm worried about what Ms. All-Sunday said about this island."

I have no clue who the heck the Sunday-chick is, but I agree with Vivi and nod vigorously as I stand at the railing to watch the murky waters glide by.

"Y-you don't think there are monsters here, do you?"

Oh, yes. Undoubtedly, Usopp. Huge hungry insects, vicious beasties, and probably an overwhelming number of carnivorous plants. What fun!

Glinting in the water draws my attention. What could it be? A coin? A jewel? If only _I_ was rubber, then I could have gotten it! Or I could have had Luffy get it for me. Oh well.

Someone says, as I'm distracted, "But man, look at this place. . . It's like a land yet to be explored by people. The entire island is a thick jungle."

My head snaps up and I slump. When did we pull so deep _into_ the island? Looking at Little Garden makes me almost miss the furry centipedes. Who knows what could be here! Ship sized spider-millipede mixes?

. . .It's official: I should not be allowed to think. Or brood.

Memories of flitting through forests back home dance in my head. All the fun I'd had, all the adventure, all the training.

Now I think, _maybe_ this island will be a good challenge for someone like me. I've got my spear, my determination to get stronger, and, I think, these people to back me up. I should be fine. Besides that, I left the comforts of my home to grow. To make something big happen. The things I want to accomplish simply aren't done by hanging back because of a little thing like fear. Luffy said I'd grow strong from joining this thing. Part of that is me participating.

While the crew talks about our surroundings I turn and slip back into the ship to grab my backpack, one made by moms Ito-Ito powers, and the notebook and graphite that Usopp had thoughtfully picked up for me. If I am going to risk my so-far-unscarred tush, then I shall have whatever pretty little thing that catches my eye.

I come back out on deck in time to jump violently at an unnerving cry from the forest. Sanji then has a perv-moment at Nami's expense when she gets all scared.

You know, just your average day here.

"Don't worry, it's just a normal bird," the cook says confidently. "And even this island is nothing but your average jungle!"

I hide a snort with a cough. Oh, Sanji. You really don't know jungles very well-

Shadow passes over the ship and my head jerks skywards.

A huge feathered lizard thing swoops by above. I seriously don't like this.

Luffy looks curious. "A Lizard. . .?"

The Thing loops over the Going-Meri. We all puzzle at this, even me. Maybe it likes Vivi and Nami's colorful hair? Thinks it's food? Maybe-

The nose twitches tellingly. I feel a horrible dawning moment of 'Oh shit'.

Lizard Beast swoops.

At me.

Damn, the _scream_ I could have made. Probably would have shattered a few windows.

As it is, Fugly-Birdie just swoops by me harmlessly, though it does snap its fanged jaws warningly.

Nami shrieks and Sanji's immediately standing before her like a protective dog, ready to send that thing farther and faster than if I'd taken a swing at it with my spear.

It's like watching something out of a slow film. The Thing goes by again and again, swooping like it's investigating the mysterious creatures invading its jungle. Then it's moving too fast, claws flashing. Everyone thinking it's after them.

Just when even I think it might be after Usopp's nose it veers and dive bombs me.

"!" A sharp squeak tears out of my mouth as I throw myself to the wrong side and tumble head-over-railing, barely managing to grab hold of it. Good thing I'm holding on, I'm sure hungry things lurk in the waters waiting warm prey.

"Rem!" Usopp hurries over while Sanji and Luffy send that feathered beast flying all the way to the Red Line, and Nami's also there to pull me back up.

"You okay?" Vivi asks beside me while I sit on my butt.

My hand lifts and I make an A-okay sign. Truthfully my throat hurts enough for me to ponder the possibility of something torn, but it doesn't matter. I don't taste blood, and besides, I've seen Zoro's scar. That kind of mark is made by a terrible wound with lots of blood. What do I have? I simple sore throat. I'd be a wimp to let it get me down.

And, like that bird-thing isn't enough of a warning to the craziness awaiting everyone, the island _and_ this river we're on shakes like an earthquake, and the distant boom of an explosion hurts my head.

"Does the bird and that sound seem like your average jungle?" Nami says, looking terrified and pale.

"That sounded like a volcano or something!" Usopp looks like a caricature of 'The Scream'.

A tiger as big as my home staggers out of the trees now, bleeding copiously as it collapses. Oh dear.

Nami rounds on everyone. "This is definitely not normal! Otherwise, why would a tiger, king of the jungle, collapse covered in its own blood!"

Right about now I miss that precious gift-of-gab I normally have, or more accurately, Gift-of-Sarcasm.

Usopp sounds sensible when he says, "Alright. Then it's decided. We are not to set foot on this island!" But I have a feeling sensibility won't be used a lot with this crew. . . Nami follows his words by suggesting everyone stay quietly on the ship and then leave when the Log Pose sets. Ha.

"Sanji! Prepare a lunch box!" Good ol' captain probably hasn't heard a word Nami said.

I turn my head and look at a shaking Luffy for a moment, wondering what life will be like from now on. Maybe it's some pitiful form of premonition, but the hairs on my arms and neck raise, sending goose bumps everywhere. I'll take the sudden sensations as _Yes, Rem, joining this crew ensures your fall into something unknowable. Probably very painful, too._

"Lunch box?" Sanji says around his cigarette.

"A _pirate _lunch box! I smell an adventure ahead!"

Really? I think I might smell a bit of doom, pain, and death defying actions instead.

Nami reams him, but Luffy's face splitting grin won't go down one bit.

Okay, _now or never._ If you chicken out, Kade, you were never worthy of getting your butt saved by someone like Thunderclap Kenny.

I follow Sanji, and I have to say that following someone has never felt more like walking through knee high molasses.

In the kitchen while Sanji prepares an all-meat lunch box for Luffy I pull the notebook and a graphite out of my bag. My note says, 'Can you make me one too? With soft sweet foods, please.'

"But Rem, isn't your throat supposed to be recovering?" Sanji looks sincerely worried, something that surprises me, though I'm not sure why. "You could have died from the damage to your throat."

The look I give him and another note says, 'I'm still here. It's not as bad as you think. If I can't take such a weak wound now, then how can I ever follow my dream?'

Sanji sighs at this, evidently seeing the particular stubbornness I feel. "Alright, but if you get yourself hurt I won't forgive myself for letting you go, you hear?"

I wince and nod.

Nami's freaking out on Vivi as I leave the kitchen and hand Luffy my request to come with him.

"Oh! 'Course, you gotta come along to get stronger, right?" Luffy's grin couldn't possibly get bigger.

Aaand, Nami rounds on me.

"Rem! Come on," Nami says, speaking with me more reasonably since I'm not Luffy. "Do you know what frostbite does to living flesh? It can ruin your throat."

Oh, I've read texts on that. Mom and dad, when I was eight and old enough to keep my mouth shut, told me that if I ever wanted to be a revolutionary I had to be able to take any climate, especially the cold. I know what this temperature or that does to someone half-way normal. Still, I shake my head and smile at Nami, appreciating that she cares enough to even say that.

Moving my lips carefully, I mouth the words, 'If I stayed back just because of my stupid throat, I'd regret it. Besides it does feel fine. I promise.'

Soon enough the four of us, Luffy, Vivi, Carue and I, are on our way.

"Alright, let's go!"

"We'll be back!" Vivi calls, reassuring the ones staying behind.

I send a two fingered salute to those on the deck.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Luffy and Vivi are a little ways away from my position. I'm digging in the dirt beneath a tree because I thought I saw something shiny.

"Oi! Rem, whatcha looking for?" Luffy calls over.

"Luffy, she can't talk yet," says Vivi, partly exasperated and mostly patient.

"Oh. I forgot. Never mind!"

I keep digging. . . Oh! A lump of amber with. . . a worm in it. Damn. Let's take it anyway. I'm sure someone in this odd world wants a frozen worm.

I walk over to Vivi, who sits on Carue, and I see Luffy is holding a very old creature that's extinct everywhere else. It's something I've read about before, but-

"This looks like. . . an ammonite if you ask me. . ."

There we go! Ammonite. Their fossilized shells make for pretty findings.

"A clam-squid, right?"

My eyes wander the area, scanning the trees above. No movement besides the wind. No bugs so far. Not many animals either. Is there something keeping them at bay? I usually get attacked more than just once without repellant on.

When a crash like thunder strikes to our side, we turn and see huge dinosaurs. They're long necks. I've read that they eat plants. Meaning they are mercifully _herbivorous._

"Why is there a seaking on land?" Luffy says while my face mirrors Carue's shock.

"It's a dinosaur!" Vivi says, voice bordering on shrill. I'm past stage Shrill and am on stage Whoa-Shit. Mind-blown!

"A dinosaur!"

"That means. . . this is a prehistoric land!"

"This island's stuck in the age of dinosaurs!" Luffy exclaims.

I tune the two out, taking in as much detail of the huger-than-life beasts as I could possibly remember. I notice that their necks would make a wicked slide, but I'm not _that_ crazy.

A noise in the bushes to my right catches my attention. Luffy's still with Vivi when I look at the bush, but when I turn back Luffy is on the dino! Either my head managed to move in some other time space, or Luffy teleported.

"Don't ride it!" Vivi yells

"You dumbass!" Is what I would have loved to shout.

Now Luffy is standing on its head and talking about how great the view is. He wants to eat lunch up there? He's a different species of male and human, gotta be. Then again, what does it make me if I'm feeling jealous of him?

"Get down, it's too dangerous! It may seem docile but it's a dinosaur!"

"It's fine! This guy's only been eating plants! I don't think it's even taken notice of me yet! Let's go check out these weird holes ahead!"

Moments after he says this the Long-Neck flips back its head and swallows the captain. I can't help but hide my face when it happens.

"Look, you just got eaten!" Vivi shrieks.

Curiosity gets the better of me. Can Luffy beat his way out? Probably. I look back up in time to see a giant appear- how in the name of Davy Jones someone that big manages to appear from nowhere, I _really_ want to know- and he slices the long-necks neck clean off.

The shock of Luffy getting swallowed and then the giant stepping out of some hammer space has be landing on my butt.

"Gegyagyagyagya! Aren't you a lively one? I haven't had any guests in a long time!"

Down here, Vivi and I hear the giants booming voice answer something Luffy says, "Gegyagyagyagya! I'm Elbaf's strongest warrior, Dorry!"

And wham! The giant spots Vivi, the duck, and I, and then says: "Let me invite you folks to my place!"

"Agh! He spotted us. . ."

Yes, a possible dilemma Vivi. But I can't feel my legs! Stupid giant scared me.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Luffy and Dorry are eating dino-meat and talking and laughing together like old pals.

How did this happen? The world may never know. Perhaps Luffy sends out brain waves that get them to like him in a snap? Or his personality could just be like that.

"T-they're getting along so well. . . "

I snort, smiling. Luffy's lucky, he's eating dinosaur! What a novelty.

Poor Carue looks like he's about to lay an egg he's so scared.

Luffy and Dorry are still talking and I listen while pondering if the meat is tender enough to chance eating. . .

". . .throat was hurt a while ago so she can't talk yet is all." Eh? Oh, Luffy told the giant why I'm Miss Chatty over here.

"Ah, well that's sad," Dorry says. A platform sized hand suddenly rests on the ground in front of me. "Climb on, little boy, I would like to see you a little closer, if you wouldn't mind." I look up and the giant is grinning. Vivi opens her mouth to correct the giant but I wave a hand at her, it's not a problem. So I climb onto the hand and Dorry lifts me.

The sudden vertigo is not pleasant.

We stare at each other for a moment and he chuckles. "You've got a stubbornness about you, boy, you'll definitely talk again!"

I grin and hold up one finger before shifting my bag and pulling out the note book. I scratch GIRL in dark letters on the page and lift it for him to see.

"Oh, my apologies, little lady. You're dressed like a boy, so I falsely assumed." Still smiling, Dorry sets me back down and I send a smile Vivi's way, she smiles back.

Still listening with half an ear as Dorry speaks to Luffy about things, I feel an _urge_ that crawls around beneath my skin. I want to explore. I don't think I'd be stopped, but what if I get lost? The only reason I could pop up everywhere back home like I stepped out of a forth dimension was because I grew up there. Here I'll be walking around for hours and might fall off a cliff. . .

Dorry releases a booming laugh that startles me and throws back his head, "But it's been one hundred years since! We just can't seem to settle our duel! Gegyagyagya!"

I gawk, mouth probably wide enough to house a bird. Ten decades, fighting? I can't imagine it, but joining the revolution will bring that kind of thing straight to me. Pfft, and the giant says all that fighting is nothing to be surprised about! Then again, Dorry says giants live three times longer than us little mortals, so a quarter of a Giants life span is possibly one full human life.

But if that amateur calculation is wrong, well, I don't think math is_ that_ important to the Revolutionaries. . .

A butterfly lands on my nose, distracting me, and KABOOM goes a volcano somewhere farther away.

"Looks like it's about time..." Dorry says, voice and face one big grin of anticipation. "Not sure exactly when we decided it, but the eruption of that middle volcano is the signal for battle."

"What. . . !" Vivi says, upset. "You two can't possibly hate each other so much to actually try and keep on killing each other for over one-hundred years!"

Funny though it sounds, I'm not sure if it's about hate. The look on Dorry's face is excited, not hateful. There isn't an ounce of malice, so I have a good feeling that they have no ill-will for one another; it's like when Elan, a boy my parents adopted after his parents were taken on suspicion of harboring fugitives, and I would play fight. It started innocent but _always_ escalated into real flying fists and kicks, but there was never any hate.

Luffy slaps a hand over Vivi's mouth. "Stop! It's not about that anymore."

"Yes," Dorry says. "It's about pride now."

Oh. Well, pride too I guess. Friendship on some level, definitely.

All of us follow Dorry at a distance to see the two giants fight, and when they do it blows me away in a more spiritual-mental sense. Luffy collapses back on the grass, looking boneless all of a sudden. I understand though, I have to sit otherwise my knees will turn to jelly, so I take a spot beside him.

Vivi asks what's wrong and Luffy's answer is one I couldn't have agreed with more.

"I'm beat. They're just sooo huge!"

A minute into the fight, maybe more since I'm a little out there to keep track, it's left at a draw when they both land killer punches into the others face.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Somewhere between the Giant-Fight's end and going back to Dorry's camp, I got lost.

I _knew_ this would happen!

Alone in a forest so thick that the branches overhead strangle out the sun. Alone with _bugs_. With animals. And. No. Repellant.

Everything about Little Garden, as I'm hiking, makes me miss Opacare and it's mild, pleasant climates.

Here the heat is muggy and makes my clothes sticky. Here, where on Opacare it was fresh and leafy, the air is thick, filled with the perfumes of plants I can't name, the musk of animals I _really_ hope to not meet, and the mucky scent of rotting leaves probably fermenting in this warmth gathering at ground level. Not to mention the weird _plants._

I was kidding about the carnivorous ones!

Oh, and the _noise._ Opacare is never the noisiest place unless it's night. It's what, midday? The place is a low clamour of animals, bugs, plants and the jungle settling.

I'm getting a headache from the noise and the temperature.

**Snap!**

In a second I'm crouching, minimizing places to be hit, and am pointing the spear where the noise came from-

"Quack!"

I relax. It's Carue. The big duck tumbles out from behind trees, looking confused and scared. When he sees me he bolts over and flails his wings everywhere-

I shrug, universal for 'I dunno'.

Carue slumps and I swear a cloud of gloom descends overhead.

I pat the duck and smile sympathetically. We move together for a while, dodging creatures and running away from predators. Finally when there is a lull in the surprises, the two of us are sitting under a tree and panting from the heat and lack of water.

As if on cue, both mine and Carue's stomachs growl. Heh. I share my lunch with Carue and don't mind giving him the bigger half since I figure his stomach is larger.

I poke Carue, with a quack he looks over. Wondering if he could read lips, since I've seen he understands language to a degree, I mouth: 'Yummy food?'

Carue quacks happily and I smile. Smart birdy.

"Well, how about this. We go hunting for pirates and end up finding a duck and a little boy."

The voice, male and filled with violent intention, sends a cold zing through me. I turn and see two people, a dark skinned man wearing sunglasses and an unpleasant looking woman with a hat and an umbrella.

Carue's on his feet in a moment and dragging me away with his teeth, frantically quacking for me to move. It only takes a moment for me to get on my feet and keep up with Carue in this mad-jungle dash.

"You'll never escape!" Says the Hat-Woman, and her laugh makes the hair on my neck stand in an unpleasant way.

A tree to our right explodes and sends flaming splinters into us from behind. I grit my teeth, worried for Carue and myself. Obviously someone, or both, is a Devil Fruit user and explodes stuff at a distance.

Not good. I'm an up-close fighter, and if I get close I get stuff blown off.

We dodge for several more minutes and seemingly lose the two bastards from earlier. In a moment of breathing room Carue nudges me and points a wing at his back. Without a second thought I hop on and ignore the unfamiliar, uncomfortable feeling of sitting in a saddle. Surprisingly Carue is _fast,_ but not enough.

Pain and a deafening blast explodes against my back, throwing me off the duck and into a short but painful roll through grass, sticks and sharp rocks that end in a collision with a tree. My brain might have been knocked around; my vision is hazy and in threes when it's not going dark and back to light. My back feels tacky and burnt and horrible, and my body refuses to listen.

Carue. . . What's happening to him, did they roast him? Oh, please tell me the duck is still alive!

Moving my head to look for Carue is like, like trying to rip out my nails, but I have to. Carue is important to Vivi, I can't let him get killed by these turd's.

What I see is Carue getting beaten by the dark man. He's telling Carue to call for help so Luffy and Vivi come running, which I find frustrating since they're close and could help.

Hat-Woman steps away from Sunglasses-Man and waltz's over to me, smiling an ugly smile as she speaks, "Are you with the Mugiwara boy and the princess too?"

What?

"Oh! You didn't know Vivi is the princess of Alabasta? Ahahaha! Two for one, I think I'll make you scream for your captain!"

Hat-Woman stops a foot from my face and it hurts my eyeballs trying to look up at her.

I have to move. I still feel my spear in my hand, if I could move, I could take her out. I just need to-

Shaking, my arm and spear rise, pointing unsteadily at the woman. I refuse to look away from her eyes and I glare as hard as I can, putting all the anger I feel it.

Hat-Woman frowns, not liking the face I'm making. Am I supposed to be whimpering and begging for something? Then she smirks at my show of obstinacy.

"Are you suppose to scare me? Pathetic! Ahaha!"

_Now, now, now!_ With a speed I never knew I possessed, my arm shoots out and I get one scratch on her side, tearing cloth. Hat-Woman snarls and smiles demonically.

"I'll enjoy this!"

Too bad I didn't nick anything important.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Waking up, there's pain here, there, everywhere; like someone let a herd of horses tap-dance on my everything.

And there's. . . there's blood running down my face. It flows heavily, seeping through the lid of my right eye. . .

_Red and sticky and warm, it smells metallic. I can't stand it. They stand in front of me, bleeding and glaring ahead. They won't move. Why won't they move? Why won't the damn idiots listen! They stare the enemy straight in the eye, snarls on both their faces. They should run and get away. But they're bleeding for me. . ._

". . .You!" Someone yells, sounding vicious and angry enough to snap bones.

Who is yelling? My head feels heavy, everything is muffled like the noise is coming from a room away.

An arm looping beneath my waist, I feel like a dead weight. Who has me? C'mon, wriggle, move!

Then I'm flying through the air to land with a roughly on something soft.

"Why did you hurt Carue and Rem? They didn't do anything to you!" Vivi? I feel dainty hands carefully move me off of who has to be Carue.

"Hey! Who are they?" Usopp, that's Usopp!

"I met them in the last town." That voice. . . Luffy.

"You're right. These two didn't do anything."

Everyone talking, it's going over my head. I have to get up, I have to move. All together I'm sure we can fight these two bastards!

"The most dangerous one is that rubber kid over there, and you are always with him. So, to separate you from him we tried to make this bird and the brat cry for your help."

Listening to Sunglasses talk fills my chest with anger. I've heard of incredible things people do through sheer force of will. I'm not them, never will be, but I have to try.

"But they really pissed me off," Sunglasses-Turd continues.

Shudders rake my back, my arms jerk and slide across the grass.

"Anyway," Sunglasses says nonchalantly. "It seems that boy can't move anymore."

A breath hisses from me. I roll and push up, shaking like someone's trying to cut away the connections between my brain and body. I open my eyes and wince at the blood in my right. I look towards Vivi and she seems close to biting her lip. To catch her attention I click my tongue softly and she looks over, slightly startled to see me moving.

"Then we have nothing to do with this bird and the kid anymore." _That's right, keep talking. Oil to the flames._

Carue quacks weakly, drawing a cry of his name from Vivi. She quickly helps me move and I'm on my knees, breathing raggedly as she places a shaking hand on Carue.

"Hahahahaha! Silly bird!" Sings Hat-Bitch.

Vivi nearly growls, a furious expression on her face.

"Are you the ones who put the bomb in that rum?"

I push everything else away from my mind and use my spear to stand.

"Is he on the list?" I'm going to turn you into a woman, Sunglasses.

"No. But he's one of their fiends, so we'd better kill him too." And for her I'll ram that ugly hat down her throat.

I see clearer now. I move experimentally, try to stand without the spear. I can, just not without looking severely inebriated. I hop. That ends with my butt against the ground. I climb right back up. Gotta be careful, have to pay attention-

"You did this? I'll crush you to the ground!" Luffy says, growling and struggling against. . .?

I turn to see what has Luffy stuck, and the sight of him buried under the humongous white mountain is very disheartening.

"Prepare to die!" Vivi yells. I turn back to look at her too quickly and topple like a child's brick tower.

It happens so fast, too fast. While I'm trying to get back to my damn feet Usopp's flying back from Sunglasses's explosive power, then I throw myself into a run towards Usopp seconds too late as Hat-Bitch jumps in the air. I'm a few feet short of saving Usopp the pain of her heavy-ass landing.

I have to stab my spear into the grass to not step on Usopp, but I manage to stand tall and snarl at Hat-Bitch.

"You again? You're practically a cripple, little boy! I suppose you want to die though, right?"

Forming the word 'Bitch' on my lips, I swing at her with my spear, but she dodges. I chase and keep swinging, this being all that I can do.

Keep her away from Usopp, don't let him or Luffy get hurt-

"What a simple brain you must have. Ahahaha!" I pause, arms trembling. Hat-Bitch points to her right and I barely move my spear in time to catch Sunglasses foot against the lacquered wood. My eyes catch a glimpse of Sunglasses holding Vivi by the neck before I take flight.

Shit!

Sunglasses-Turd makes that explosion extra spicy, for I fly, and fly, and hit the white mountain with a crack of something painful.

Unfortunately my body decides it's had enough and I faint.

* * *

**AN: I think it might be a regular thing with me, to switch with first point of view Rem, to Third just so that we get out of her head and see what's really happening with her. Because, frankly, with frostbite to the neck she will **_**not**_** be 'perfectly' fine a day or so afterwards. I know Frostbite destroys tissues, so she's not peachy keen.**

**So. . .Chapter 6 shall be 3rd POV.**


End file.
